Spaces Between Stars
by rabid behemoth
Summary: In a perfect postwar Konoha, Sakura's life is...still missing something. Attempting to discover her destiny, she makes a wish on a shooting star — but it falls on her head instead. When she wakes, the world is a little different than she remembers...[ItaSaku, KakaSaku. Non-triangle]


**Title: **Spaces Between Stars  
**Rating: **M (for future sexin', knowing me)  
**Pairings:** KakaSaku, ItaSaku (non-triangle)  
**Summary:** In a perfect postwar Konoha, Sakura's life is...still missing something. Attempting to discover her destiny, she makes a wish on a shooting star — but it falls on her head instead. When she wakes, the world is a little different than she remembers...[ItaSaku, KakaSaku. Non-triangle]

- o -

**A/N:** Hey all and welcome! I put an (inexcusable) number of other projects on hold because this one _demanded attention_ first. I'll get to the others though, promise! It is set one year post shinobi fourth world war. Please note there will be some SasuSaku this chap due to the need to set up conflict, but this is _not a SasuSaku fic._ **It is both an ItaSaku and a KakaSaku, but — and this is very important — it is **_**NOT A TRIANGLE.**_ As in, the two ships will not be in competition with each other (so if you only like one or the other, fear not, your otp is not in jeopardy!), nor will there be polyamory (not _this time_ anyway). I know that sounds bizarre but I promise it will make sense! You trust me, right? (hahahahaha~_why would you do that?)_

Super special awesome thanks to my inhumanly patient beta SomebodyLost (marry me please?). This fic is dedicated to all my tumblr peeps (you know who you are, KS-taggers!) because you continue to inspire me to write with your amazingness.

Okay enough chitchat, down to business! Happy reading! :D

- o -

"A toast to the Hokage!"

A chorus of groans mingled with the cheers.

"Ugh, if I have one more someone is gonna have to carry me home."

"How troublesome..."

"Don't be such a lightweight, we're barely getting started here!"

A dark eye peeked out from beneath a shock of white hair. "Don't you think you've had enough, _Hokage-sama?"_

A very red-faced Naruto threw his head back and laughed, casually spilling his drink down his front. "When you say it, Kaka-sensei, it always sounds like you're being sarcastic."

"Can't imagine why that would be," the older jounin droned, lips twitching beneath his mask. Naruto, of course, was three sheets to the wind too many to take offense. He laughed again and managed to get some of the next sip into his mouth. Kinda.

Sai, conversely, was still sober enough to point out the inaccuracy. "He isn't Hokage yet. The first meteor shower of spring is due tomorrow night, so it'll be about another month before the equinox. Until the ceremony, our future Rokudaime is still just regular old Dickle-"

"_Sakura-chaaaaan!" _the blonde interrupted, spotting a familiar head of pink hair through the sea of bodies. He jumped up and down, waving enthusiastically. "Come over, take another shot with us!"

Sakura glimpsed her exuberant best friend across the room. He was positively glowing, and it wasn't just from the booze. The blue in his wide eyes had never looked so bright, the relaxed smile on his strong jaw (when had he grown up enough to get one of _those_?) was infectious. She felt her chest swell with pride for him; after so many years of hardship topped off by a grueling world war, Naruto was finally on the cusp of having all his hard-earned dreams come true. She couldn't be happier for him. A lopsided grin on her face, Sakura clutched her newly-refilled cup in one hand and began weaving her way through the crowd towards him. She paused a few steps into her journey, glancing over her shoulder at the empty space where her companion should've been.

"Aren't you coming, Sasuke-kun?"

Konoha's most recently (re)acquired citizen fixed her with a steady look. Behind the mature face was the same boy she'd known and loved since childhood, finally recognizably human again (not to mention devastatingly handsome). His black eyes flickered to the blonde in the corner, who had proceeded to snatch a squealing Hinata out of the masses and was squeezing her around the middle with gusto, oblivious to the girl's hyperventilation at the sudden attention. The corner of his perfect lips quirked.

"Of course," he said, scooping more punch into his glass with an easy flick of his wrist. He set the ladle back down next to the sushi platter and trailed after Sakura.

"N-n-naruto," Hinata protested, trying to pry her fiancee's hands off while he covered her tomato-red face with sloppy kisses. "Please, later —"

"Aww, c'mon, Hinata-chan, you look so cute in that dress I can't resist!"

"Hey Dickless, are we doing this or not?" Sai cut off the embarrassing public display, passing out shot glasses to anyone within reach (Hinata accepted hers with untold gratitude). And indeed there were a _lot _of people within reach; the rebuilt Uchiha compound was so packed that intoxicated party guests were spilling out into the yards and gardens, crammed into narrow gaps between houses. Some had even found their way out onto the lantern-strung rooftops. It seemed the entire village had turned out to celebrate their favorite war hero's completion of Kage training. Sai ran out of shot glasses before he could blink.

"To the Rokudaime-to-be!" someone shouted.

"Kanpai!" the crowd returned, glasses tipping back as one. Sakura's throat burned as the clear liquid of drink number ? slid down (she'd lost count some time after Kiba had poured whatever-the-hell-that-was into the punch bowl). She wiped her mouth with her arm and shot Naruto another grin. She took a wobbling step forward, only to have a warm palm catch her elbow.

"Mixing high heels and alcohol seems kind of dangerous," Sasuke mused, steadying her. Sakura felt the tips of her ears tinge pink, heat fanning out where his fingers contacted her skin. He released her arm quickly.

"Th-thank you, Sasuke-kun," she stammered through the pounding of blood in her ears. She was normally better behaved than this, but it seemed like the sake in her system had seized control of her eyeballs and surgically attached them to the collar of Sasuke's yukata, where a sliver of pale chest was peeking out. Even worse, it hijacked her thoughts away from goodwill towards Naruto and dragged them kicking and screaming to the one place in her head they didn't belong.

The look in her eyes must have been apparent, because her former teammate shifted, gazing past her. "Sakura, please."

Her body reacted to his voice, heart speeding up involuntarily. "P-please what?"

"Don't."

Shame crashed around her ears. This was Naruto's night, and here was she was ruining his best friend's time with the awkward baggage she had no one but herself to blame for. She shook her head and plastered on a blinding grin, throat releasing a hoarse laugh.

"Ahaha, it's nothing! I'm fine. I just drank too much, sorry. Thank you for... escorting me." _Even though it was a bad idea._

Sasuke swallowed. "You know it's not a —"

"I know," she interrupted, barreling past the twinge in her chest. "It's fine. Everything's great. I'm just glad to have you back, Sasuke-kun."

The look on his face made her spit out a hurried correction. "I-I mean, it's good you're finally back. With us. Sorry, it's the sake talking. _Words_ and all, hahaha," she babbled, looking anywhere but at him. His shrewd gaze pierced her like a kunai between the eyes.

"I've been back in the village for a year, Sakura. Since the war ended."

"I know. But I'm still getting used to it. To being...happy. You don't know —" She grabbed another cup off a passing tray and gulped in down in one swallow. "You don't know what it was like. When you were... gone."

And now she'd said too much. The look on his face was something almost like pity, and Sakura wished she was drunk enough to black out already and be done with it, unable to remember any of this come morning. But she had no such luck; her consciousness lingered like an Akimichi at the buffet line. Sasuke sighed and tucked his hands into his sleeves, glancing towards the door idly.

"Come on, I'll walk you home."

Lacking both will and reason to argue, Sakura said her goodbyes to Naruto, who had somehow wound up with a lampshade on his head (the sly smirk on Konohamaru's face was decidedly suspicious) and was singing an ode to ramen for a surprisingly responsive audience. She stumbled out the door after Sasuke, grateful to escape the suddenly suffocating house.

They weaved their way through the revelers in the yard, dodging all manner of outstretched hands and offers of 'just one more!' Sakura noticed the blonde missile that was Ino launching herself towards them and grabbed Sasuke's hand reflexively. When he pulled it from her grip she flinched as though slapped.

"Sorry. Ino is incoming, we better move," she explained, too late to prevent him from getting the wrong idea. She offered her nosy girlfriend a falsely pacifying wave and ducked out the front gate, Sasuke in tow.

They squeezed their way through the thinning crowds, finally reaching the open expanse of the nearby market street, dark with abandonment at this late hour. Sakura breathed in relief, automatically hanging a right.

Sasuke caught her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"Home?" she asked more than answered, blinking in confusion.

"Your apartment is west."

She resisted the urge to slap a hand to her forehead. How drunk did a person have to be to forget they moved out of their parents' house three months ago? "Of course," she grit out, starting in the opposite direction. Sasuke followed in silence, hands tucked into his robes.

Each click of her heels against the pavement jarred her nerves, but Sakura did not — _did not — _sneak any glances at Sasuke. The tall man walked beside her, longer legs taking leisurely but purposeful strides. If she wasn't sure to keep up he would have naturally outpaced her. She cleared her throat.

"Why aren't you drunk? You had even more than me."

"...I am," he answered after a beat of silence. "Quite so, actually."

Sakura's brow twitched in annoyance. The stoic man certainly hid it well.

Before she knew it they had reached her place. It took her a minute to recognize the faded red paint and the upside-down '9' (now a '6') dangling from the front door. She fumbled awkwardly in her bra for her key (ignoring the sting of disappointment when Sasuke didn't even try to peek at the process), removing it and undoing the lock with a resonant click. She pushed open the door to the dark apartment, pausing to turn to her comrade.

"Uh, thank you again. For escorting me," she said carefully, too-conscious of the stereotypical date-like atmosphere. It was bad for her head.

He merely shrugged. "Don't mention it," he replied, not looking uncomfortable in the least. "Have a good night." Was the awkwardness all in her head then? Or maybe...

She squinted at him through the dull glow of the streetlamp, which cast a wan tone on his skin. The alcohol in her blood blurred her vision slightly, playing games with the shadows and making her see his features in a different light. His pupils were darkened with his own intoxication, and his expression was almost...open, unguarded, and without warning Sakura suddenly found her backbone. She turned her head to stare into the empty darkness of her one bedroom apartment, and opened her mouth.

"Would you like to come in? For tea or something?" _Or something._

She glanced back at where his face should be, only to find herself alone on her doorstep once again. He'd been gone since before she could even get the question out.

Regret crushed her like a blow to the gut, and Sakura could do nothing but stumble into bed without even bothering to take her clothes off.

- o -

The next morning dawned bright. Too bright.

"_Ow,"_ Sakura moaned into her pillow, squeezing her eyes against the blinding light shining through her uncurtained window. She'd obviously forgotten to pull it shut last night.

She'd forgotten a few other things too — like taking off her shoes, for example, or going to the bathroom before bed. She hoisted herself to her feet, staggering down the hall to the toilet before her bladder could explode. One long shower and cup of coffee later, Sakura felt much better.

Half an hour later, she pressed cooling chakra into her forehead to ease some of her headache, piece of toast dangling out of her mouth as she locked the door behind her. Her legs started off in the direction of the hospital, and as usual Sakura refused to reflect on the events of last night. Much.

There was no point being all embarrassed about it now, her feelings were never exactly a secret. There was one thing and one thing only she could do about it:

Suck it up.

When life doesn't go your way, the adult thing to do is to deal with it. At seventeen, Sakura was pretty much an adult by shinobi standards. Naruto was only the same age and was already poised to be in charge of the entire village. And there was simply no way _he _was more of an adult that _she _was. Sakura never wanted to lose to her former teammates at anything again.

Love life aside, there was nothing wrong with Sakura's life. She had a everything she wanted. An important job at the hospital to attend to, after all. One that was crucial to the village.

- o -

"Waaaaaah!" the toddler screamed, clutching at his mother's leg in mad desperation.

"It'll only pinch for a second Sho-chan," Sakura tried, attempting to pry his tiny fingers from his decidedly unhelpful mom's calf one by one. Chakra would leave bruises, and Haruno Sakura's own strength was more than enough to handle a three-year-old.

His claws tightened convulsively as the wailing increased enough decibels to shatter glass, and Sakura had to reconsider her assessment.

"You're a big boy," she ground out, jaw clenched with effort. "Now. _Let. Go."_

With a pop like a cork from a champagne bottle, the kid finally flew off, dragging Sakura with him. Her momentum slammed her backward into the medicine cabinet, which burst open to spill its contents all over the floor. Not to mention Sakura's medic uniform. She glared at the q-tip and cotton ball strewn puddle of liquid slowly spreading across the tile, eye twitching dangerously. She prepped her injection, pulling on a pair of latex gloves with an ominous snap. Clearly it was going to be one of those days.

Sho-chan screamed in terror.

- o -

"Urgh!" Sakura grunted in frustration, rattling the door handle once more. All the spare uniforms were stored in the back room, but her key was wonky and the lock just wouldn't cooperate.

_Damn_, she swore, nearly removing the handle entirely by mistake. Just as she was contemplating violence against hospital property on purpose, a soft chuckle resonated behind her.

"You can't force it. Be gentle, like this." A gloved hand reached around her to jiggle the key expertly, easing the lock open with a satisfying click. Sakura glanced over her shoulder in surprise.

"Kaka-sensei!"

"Yo," he greeted with his trademark eye crinkle.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, leading the way into the storeroom and flicking on the light. She winced, the slight headache from the morning's hangover protesting.

"I need a reason to visit my favorite student?"

Sakura offered him a flat look, rummaging through a locker for a fresh shirt. "Don't give me that. You're physically allergic to hospitals. How did you even know how to open that lock, come to think of it?"

His mask twitched. "I am intimately familiar with every lock in this place."

Sakura put two and two together. "Ah. Escape attempts."

"_Successful_ escapes are not referred to as 'attempts,'" he correctly smoothly. Sakura tried to hold back a smile but failed.

"So what do you really want?" she asked, untying the top string of her uniform.

Kakashi, ever the gentleman (not to mention well-trained from missions), politely turned his back to her. "It's my genin. Again," he chuckled, sheepish.

Sakura clucked her tongue, tying up the drawstring on a new pair of pants. "All finished," she announced. Kakashi spun around as she gathered her stained things and tossed them into the communal hamper. She lead the way out the door, locking up behind them. "So what is it this time? Sprained ankle? Bruised ribs? Bruised ego?"

"Broken arm actually."

Sakura snorted. "What a neglectful sensei. Too busy reading smut to watch your kiddos?"

"Hey, it was a dangerous D-rank mission," Kakashi protested, leading the way down the hall. "That cat did _not_ want to be caught."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh aloud at the memories that brought back. "And I'm sure _Icha Icha_ had nothing to do with it," she teased as she opened the door to exam room 12B. Over the years she had come to view her ex-sensei as a kind of vaguely irresponsible (if well-meaning) older brother, so she had a right (responsibility, even) to harass him a bit.

"Sakura-sensei!" a chorus of high voices greeted her ears.

"Hey guys," she smiled back, accepting waist-high hugs from her favorite genin team (except from Jin, whose wan face was taut with pain, though he put on a brave show). "I heard we ran into a little trouble on a mission?" She lifted Jin's arm delicately, examining it for the break.

"Jin fell out of the tree!" Eri piped up helpfully.

"Hnn. Nothing we can't fix," Sakura said lightly, pressing a glowing palm to the bone. "Did you capture the cat in the end?" she asked by way of distraction.

"We completed the objective," Tatsuya announced proudly.

"Good job," Sakura praised, already finishing up. The hairline fracture was so microscopic it barely needed energy to heal. She rubbed his muscles down and injected some numbing chakra to ease any lingering soreness. Jin's face relaxed in relief.

"Thank you, Sakura-sensei!"

"You're welcome," she responded, helping him hop down from the exam table. She grabbed her clipboard and smacked him on the butt. "Now scoot, and I don't want to see any of you back here for _at least _another day or two. Don't give your sensei any trouble either. He's an old man," she tacked on with a wry glance at Kakashi.

"We make no promises!" squealed Eri as the trio barreled out the door, giggling.

Sakura only shook her head and sighed, pulling up a stool and removing the pen tucked behind her ear. More paperwork. Yay.

Kakashi picked up on her sudden gloom. She shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall, blinking one dark eye at her inquisitively. "Something wrong?"

Sakura's pen hesitated in scratching at the chart. "Not particularly. It's just..." She trailed off, lost in thought.

"I know that look," Kakashi drawled. "Something's on that hyperactive brain of yours."

She sighed again, palm resting in her chin. Green eyes flickered over to him.

"It's just that working with kids is nice and all, but there are only so many cut lips and broken bones the medic in me can stand. Healing during the war as so _challenging_, but during times of peace..." She trailed off again, picking at the peeling paint on the counter with her thumbnail idly. "I just don't feel as..."

"Important?" Kakashi supplied, eyebrows raised.

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "You make it sound so vain, but I suppose so."

Kakashi hummed. "I don't really blame you. Everybody needs to feel needed. Have to talked to Tsunade-sama about it?"

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes and failed miserably. "Only like every day. She won't promote me to department head, but she won't let me take field missions either! She just says I should concentrate on my current work as well as I possibly can to serve the village best. But I don't understand _why_. I mean, wouldn't I be able to better serve Konoha in a position of more responsibility?" she asked, trying not to think about Sasuke's recent promotion to ANBU captain. Or worse, Naruto's completed Kage training. She swore she would never be stuck looking at her teammates' backs again, yet somehow, inevitably —

Kakashi's voice drew her out of the negative spiral of her thoughts. "I hate to say it Sakura, but that's really Tsunade-sama's judgment to make. She's very fair, and I'm sure she has both your best interests and the village's in mind. Try to be patient, have a little faith."

Sakura frowned, exhaling heavily to blow the bangs out of her face. "Patience. Right. I can do that," she responded, tone not entirely convincing even to her own ears. She picked up her pen with reluctance and resumed her busywork, trying to imagine the graph of one child's weight was really as crucial to the village as her elders would have her believe. It didn't quite work.

"Well at least Ino's in the same boat," she consoled herself aloud. "The day I lose to _her_, I'll really have something to gripe about."

Kakashi's mouth quirked. "That's the, uh, spirit, Sakura. Chin up. You've got a fine life."

Sakura nodded absently. "Thanks for talking to me, Kaka-sensei," she called out the door after him. Knowing her sensei's reticent nature, you had to reward him for showing an interest in discussing personal issues or you'd never get two word of advice out of the man again.

"Anytime, Sakura," he answered without turning, offering a lazy wave over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hall.

Sakura went back to her paperwork.

- o -

"Mine is gonna be awesome."

"Well _mine _is gonna be _mindblowing_."

"Silly Forehead, you have to _have_ a mind in the first place for it be blown."

"I assure you my forehead isn't this large purely for aesthetic reasons. I'll outsmart you any day of the week, Pig."

"Except for the ones that end in 'y,' of course."

Sakura casually smeared a heaping spoonful of cake batter across Ino's cheek. She froze, blue eyes wide with shock, before they narrowed into glinting chips of ice.

"You. Did. NOT."

The ensuing battle resulted in three shattered dishes, an eggshell-and-chocolate-chip littered kitchen floor, and walls coated in soap suds from floor to ceiling. The two best frienemies stared each other down, getting their breaths back and assessing the damage. Sakura wrung chocolate syrup out of her hair and wiped her hands futilely on her filthy apron.

"Now that that's out of your system, I'm gonna go shower while the cakes ba — INO!"

She was cut off by a blond hurricane barreling past on the way to the bathroom.

"Ino! It's _my _shower and I CALL DIBS YOU BLOND BITCH PIGFACE!" she roared, hauling ass after the girl.

The following squabble was no less violent than the kitchen brawl. Sakura earned a black eye, a smashed funnybone from the bathroom counter, and a downed shower curtain for her trouble, but she won the right to go first.

Forty minutes later, both freshly showered and changed kunoichi returned to the destroyed kitchen to wait out the last few minutes of the baking process.

"Mine smells so good I'm drooling already, ugh," Ino moaned, wringing a dish towel dramatically. "I can't wait to see the look on Chouji's face when he tastes it on his birthday. The look on his face when he tastes _yours, _though..."

Sakura snorted derisively. "You cannot possibly distinguish the smell of yours from mine when they're baking in the same oven."

"I can so. My nose must be better than yours."

"If by 'better,' you mean 'larger,' sure," Sakura shot back with a grumble. "Why are you so damn competitive?"

"I'm only competitive about important things."

"Like birthday cake baking."

"Precisely. Besides, at least I'm not as competitive as _you_."

"...I hope even you cannot fail to hear the irony in that statement."

Ino merely shrugged, flipping her hair over one shoulder. "Whatever, Forehead. Green eyes are unbecoming on you."

Sakura flushed hotly. "They're my natural color!"

"Oh, like your pink hair, right," Ino laughed. "And you know that's not what I meant."

Sakura merely grunted and rolled her eyes. Ino was just winding her up on purpose, as usual. She sat down at the kitchen table with a thump.

"What, no witty retort?" Ino asked, brow arched.

Sakura propped an elbow on the table and cupped her chin in her palm stubbornly. Ino pulled out a chair and sat beside her, wrinkle creasing her brow. She poked Sakura in the ribs. "Hey, Forehead."

No response. Ino frowned.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Sakura sighed. "You're the second person to ask me that today, you know."

Ino quirked a brow. "Well then I'm not wrong. So spill, why so glum?"

"I'm not... glum," Sakura retorted, fidgeting. Ino shot her an unimpressed look. "Okay, fine, I'm a bit put out, but it's stupid because there's nothing wrong. I literally have nothing to complain about."

"So...you're complaining about having nothing to complain about, or — ?"

Her wide forehead smacked the tabletop. "I guess?"

Ino crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Is this about Sasuke?"

Sakura sat up faster than Naruto at the words 'ramen-eating contest.' "No! What? No!"

Ino's expression of extreme skepticism made her squirm again. "Fine, maybe a little. But that's not the whole story!" she insisted, meaning it. "It's just that ever since the war ended, everything's been great for everyone, you know?"

Ino nodded once, before letting her head fall. "Ye — no. I still don't see how that's a bad thing."

"It's not!" Sakura protested, running a hand through her hair. This was really hard to explain. "It's awesome, actually. Naruto's gonna be Hokage. He's dreamed about that since we were twelve; he deserves it more than anyone. We defeated Madara and saved the ninja world. We united the villages. Sasuke finally got revenge for his family and made peace with his loss. Kakashi too — after Obito finally accepted his apology as he was dying, it freed him in some way. I haven't seen him visit the centograph in ages. He's healing, and everyone I love is finally happy and at peace."

Ino's frown deepened. "If everything's so perfect, why aren't you smiling right now when you talk about it?"

Sakura's head and the table became intimate friends again. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I don't know? It just kinda feels like all my friends met their destinies, and I'm still lagging behind as usual."

When a warm hand rubbed Sakura's shoulder soothingly, she nearly jumped out of her skin. She jerked her head off the table to shoot Ino an incredulous stare. "Who are you and what did you do with my bitchy friend?"

Said friend promptly stopped the massage and smacked Sakura in the back of the head. Through the pain, Sakura was inexplicably relieved.

"So much for me trying to be sympathetic, Forehead. If you'd rather wallow in unwarranted self-pity, be my guest."

Sakura winced. "Okay, I deserve that. I _know_ I don't have room to whine. But that just makes it all the more difficult."

Ino sighed and crossed her arms. "I can kind of see both sides, I guess. The only thing I can tell you, Forehead, is that nothing ever got done by doing nothing, you know?"

Sakura's brow furrowed in thought. "Ino, that's probably the wisest thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't get used to it. Wisdom is more Shikamaru's specialty."

Sakura's thoughtful frown was interrupted by the ding of the oven. The two young women froze, eyes locked. With the screech of two chairs simultaneously moving, they leaped to their feet as one and fought each other for over-opening rights. Sakura won, using a combination of chakra and ruthless hair-pulling (otherwise known to Ino as 'cheating'), and yanked open the oven door enthusiastically.

Her cake was gorgeous: a golden, fluffy yellow mixed with decadent swirls of dark chocolate. A minute later it was cooling on the countertop in all it's glory. When Sakura cut into it, gooey chocolate chips melted before her eyes.

"It's perfect," she sang, not bothering to hide her gleeful smirk. Ino's strawberry and crème concoction was no less visually stunning, but Sakura was confident that hers would win the most important contest — the taste test. Giddy, she brought a moist forkful to her lips, eyelids slipping closed in appreciation of the aroma. She took a bite.

And promptly spat it back out in disgust.

She stared at her traitorous artwork in mute horror. Over in the corner, Ino was having an obvious foodgasm over her own creation. Sakura ignored her sensual moans and lunged for a forkful of her rival's cake. She stuffed it in her mouth.

It was heartbreakingly delectable.

"What the hell!" Sakura exploded, disbelief coloring her cheeks a hectic red. "I don't understand, I followed all the directions exactly. What does yours have that mine doesn't? What could I be missing?"

Ino raised a disturbingly smug eyebrow and helped herself to a bite of Sakura's culinary disaster. She too made a face and ejected the mouthful into a napkin. She shot her friend an 'are you stupid?' look.

"_What?"_

"Sakura. You forgot the sugar."

Sakura's jaw hit the linoleum. She honestly didn't have anything to say to that.

Forty minutes later of grievous kitchen cleanup later, Ino wrapped tin foil over her beautifully iced, flawless cake. Sakura's was resting in peace at the bottom of the trash bin. Obviously she'd be _buying_ Chouji a gift this year.

She scratched the back of her neck in resignation as she walked Ino to the front door. "Are you sure you don't wanna stay and watch a movie or something? There's that new one with Kousuke Harada."

"Ooh, the one where he meets his bride from the future but mistakes her for his enemy and ends up marrying her twin sister instead?"

"Yeah, and he's shirtless for like 80% of the film."

Ino bit her lip in longing, stepping outside with reluctance. "You know I would Sakura, but I've gotta get some sleep. Mission tomorrow."

Sakura froze. Ino slapped a palm over her mouth. "I mean —"

"You have... a mission?" Sakura choked out, voice strangled. Ino, for once, looked like she wished she'd kept her big mouth shut.

"It's only a minor one —"

"But Tsunade-shishou wasn't letting either of us take field missions!"

Ino shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, I guess —"

"So this is like a one-time thing, or...?"

Ino suddenly found her shinobi sandals to be very fascinating. "I didn't want to tell you, I knew you'd get upset —"

Sakura was past the ability to listen. "I'm going to talk to shishou."

Ino shot her distressed friend a concerned glance. "Sakura, wait, I don't know if that's a good —"

But Sakura had already disappeared down the sidewalk at a breakneck sprint.

- o -

Sakura flew up the stairs of the Hokage tower three at a time, not even noticing the various passersby narrowly leaping out of her way. Her mind was abuzz with a confusing mix of hurt, humiliation, and anger.

She trusted her shishou implicitly. How could she blatantly lie to her like that? What reason could she possibly have for purposefully holding her back? Hadn't she proved herself with her apprenticeship? With her service during the war? Hadn't she sacrificed enough? What else could she possibly do to earn the same recognition as the others?

Whether it was love or her career, why was Sakura never _good enough?_

The sting of tears in her eyes only made her flush further with rage. Ino's words came back to her like a match to dry wood: "Nothing ever got done by doing nothing."

Sakura was sick and tired of doing nothing. Of accepting mediocrity. She couldn't just sit back and let her life slip through her fingers, let everyone around her move forward while she stagnated. She would do whatever she had to. She would _make_ Tsunade understand her value.

Jaw set, she swiped the moisture from her cheeks with her forearm angrily and burst through the imposing double doors of the Hokage's office without bothering to knock.

"Shishou! I need to talk to you _now!" _

The entire council looked up and stared openly at Sakura. She stared back, paralyzed. The silence that fell was heavy enough to bludgeon a man to death with.

Koharu turned her wrinkled head to Tsunade with a deeply unimpressed expression. "Tsunade-hime. Surely this self-important brat is not the talented young lady you were just telling us about?"

The Godaime turned a sickly shade of puce. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat and tried again.

"My deepest apologies, councillors. If you'll excuse me for a moment."

She stood gracefully, chin high, and strode across the room through the wide-open door, stepping into the hall. Sakura followed automatically, shutting the door as quietly as possible behind them. Someone had replaced her internal organs with live worms. Tsunade did not breathe a word as they walked, the quiet click of her heels the only sound echoing down the empty corridor. She didn't so much as spare her apprentice a backward glance.

Finally, they reached a small door at the end of the hall that Sakura had never opened before. Tsunade turned the handle and Sakura scooted inside before her feet could chicken out.

It was pitch dark; Sakura heard the door swing shut behind them. With a click, a single naked light bulb illuminated the cramped space, revealing a wall of buckets and brooms and mops. If her mentor was locking them in a broom closet together, it could only mean one thing. Sakura started mentally writing her will.

Tsunade, however, did not throw things. She did not destroy walls. She did not even raise her voice. Instead, she pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, speaking up ever so softly.

"Sakura."

Sakura tried to swallow past the lump in her throat but only succeeded in choking herself. "Y-yes?" she squeaked.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?"

She could only shake her head mutely.

"You'll be lucky if they consider you for the position of hospital director_ ever again_, much less anytime within the next decade."

All the blood drained from Sakura's body at once. Her ears failed her. The room seemed to tilt on its axis, reality sliding sideways. She stuck out an arm to prop against the wall to keep herself upright.

"Wh-what do you mean, hospital dir —"

Tsunade punched the wall. A deep crack spiraled out from the point of impact, shaking the closet and making plaster and dust rain from the ceiling. Sakura visibly recoiled.

"Damn it, Sakura! This is _exactly_ why you aren't ready!"

Wide-eyed and spluttering, Sakura found her voice. "But-but you wouldn't even promote me — you took me off active duty —"

"To prepare you, which was obviously a monumental waste of time! Weren't you listening to me, girl? I said you needed to concentrate on _you_, on _your _career, on making a name for yourself among the villagers and earning the respect of the staff! All you had to was your damn job, but you had to do it well. That's it. But instead, you chose to worry about what everyone else was doing with their lives."

Sakura's right knee abruptly gave out and her shoulder hit the wall with a painful crunch, but she somehow didn't fall. The fury in Tsunade's face was not the worst part, oh no. No, it was the acute disappointment that killed her.

"You screwed up my retirement plans spectacularly to boot," Tsunade added, pouring salt into the would liberally and grinding.

Sakura bit back the cake that was threatening to resurface. "Isn't there anything I can —"

"Too little, too late." Tsunade casually kicked a broom over, not seeming at all sorry when it whacked Sakura in the shins. She exhaled heavily, closing her eyes once more. "Though at least half of this is my fault, I freely admit it. You weren't ready. I knew it, and that little _display_ back there proves it. I should have listened to my gut."

She shook her head and turned her back to Sakura, opening the door. She switched off the overhead light abruptly, plunging the tiny room into darkness — save for the blinding light from the hall enveloping her silhouette.

"But — but what do I do now?" Sakura murmured, squinting against the sudden brightness.

The Godaime paused. The character for 'luck' on her broad back seemed to take up all of Sakura's field of vision. "I don't have all the answers, Sakura. You need to figure it out for yourself. Find what you lack, then come see me."

And with that, Tsunade disappeared.

Sakura stared at the empty space where her mentor had been and slowly, so slowly, sank to her knees.

- o -

Not even the melody of the crickets, which Sakura had always found so soothing, could calm the turbulence of her mind.

It was so serene and beautiful atop Hokage monument, the lights of Konoha spread out below her like stars that fell from heaven to decorate the dark ground. There was a slight chill in the night air, though not enough to make her shiver, and Sakura hugged her knees closer to her chest.

She sat on Tsunade's enormous stone head in her usual thinking spot, fully aware that all the thinking in the world couldn't get out of this one.

She fucked up.

It was right there, within her grasp, right below her nose and she was too stubborn to even _see _it. Her destiny had been within her reach all along. If only she had listened, really _listened. _If only she'd had faith, like Kakashi said, and enough confidence in herself to not worry about others. Every single thing Tsunade said was accurate, and the guilt and shame of what she'd carelessly thrown away in her ignorance ate at her.

What could she possibly do now, having robbed herself of her own place in the world?

_Find what you lack, _Tsunade had told her. This time, Sakura would listen. She would find it.

But kami only knew where to look.

With a sigh like the breeze, Sakura's body sagged backward to lay sprawled across the stone. A boneless lump of girl at the mercy of the universe. She gazed up at the domed ceiling of the world, the full moon hanging conspicuously low like it was considering coming down to join her; the countless pinpricks of light shining from trillions of miles away. For the first time Sakura noted not the stars themselves so much as the spaces between them. The darkness seemed to stand out and call attention to itself, no longer just a backdrop. Numerous as the stars and planets were, the endless miles of emptiness separating them was always overlooked. But there was something beautiful there too, in the in-between. The velvet blue-black sky enveloped her like a blanket, and Sakura felt her tired eyes begin to droop.

Suddenly a river of light illuminated the night — the first meteor shower of the season. The rain of falling stars left white streaks across Sakura's vision, but the beautiful sight stirred a tendril of hope in her belly. She remembered her mother's words on a spring night just like this, so many years ago:

_Make a wish, sweetie._

_Make a wish._

Not in the mood for pragmatism at the moment, Sakura decided to indulge herself just this once. She let her eyes slip closed.

_I just want — _

A moment later, a stab of brightness startled her lids open. Lashes fluttering, she located the source.

Directly overhead in the center of the vast sky, a meteor was growing bigger and bigger. The brightness intensified, and Sakura had to squint against it. She was almost alarmed, except that science dictated the chances of a meteor making it to earth before being burned up by the atmosphere were one in one mill —

And that was when the falling star landed on Sakura's head.

- o -

"Sakura, wake up."

"Five more minutes, mom," she murmured sleepily, rolling onto her side. But why was her bed hard as a rock? And when was the last time her _mother _woke her up? She shivered, groping for a blanket that wasn't there.

A soft hum of amusement. "I'm not your mother."

Sakura's lids flew open in sudden recognition. "S-sasuke-kun?" she asked, disoriented.

He looked down at her, a semi-smile painted on his lips. He offered her a hand.

Blinking back surprise, she accepted, spine tingling at the warmth of his broad palm enveloping her own. "Thank you," she said, sitting up unsteadily.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked

A shooting star lit up her mind, but she filed that away under 'embarrassing flights of fancy no one should know about under any circumstances _ever_.'

"...I come alone up here to think sometimes," she evaded.

Sasuke's expressions grew thoughtful. He sat down beside her, closer than she would've guessed he'd feel comfortable with.

"When I want to think, I sit on the roof of the old police station in the Uchiha compound. But this has a nicer view," he remarked, admiring the colorful rows of people dotting the streets like ants, and the swaying forest surrounding the village in the distance.

A breeze ruffled his inky hair, and Sakura tried not to stare in shock. It wasn't that she and Sasuke weren't friendly — far from it, in fact. She was one of the few people in the village he trusted enough to let close to him. It was just that Sasuke never opened up _anyone_ like this, preferring to keep his thoughts to himself. He kept a respectful emotional distance from her in particular, no doubt because her unrequited feelings made him uncomfortable.

But right now, he didn't look uncomfortable in the least. He gazed at her with relaxed interest.

She swallowed, shaking herself from her daze. "What are _you_ doing up here, Sasuke-kun?"

"Looking for you."

Blood pooled in her cheeks, heart stuttering. She was obviously reading into his intentions too much, but she could hardly help her physiological reactions —

She nearly yelped when he lifted her hand, turning it over delicately in his own. He examined the lines of her palm idly, tracing them with a gentle finger.

"Sakura, I've been thinking."

Sakura's heart was in danger of exploding in her chest. This couldn't be happening. She must be hallucinating or dreaming, unless that falling star somehow actually —

"You're one of the few people who've always cared for me, no matter what mistakes I made."

He entwined their fingers together, and Sakura wondered if she could die from the overwhelming feeling of hope and fear fighting in her belly.

"I haven't always been kind to you. No, that's an understatement — I've been downright unforgivable at times," he continued, oblivious to her shaking. "But I've always cared for you in my own way. I didn't think that was enough, that you deserved someone who could give you more. The most. But maybe —"

His dark eyes locked on hers like an electric shock to the system.

"Maybe it is. Maybe it doesn't have to be sunbursts and fireworks, maybe just being comfortable is enough. If...if that's what you want, of course."

The depth in his black eyes gave Sakura the illusion she was being pulled toward him, sucked in like gravity. Suddenly his face was mere inches from hers, and Sakura realized it was no illusion. Her eyes slid down his face to the soft, pink lips filling her field of vision. Her existence.

"If this is what you want," he repeated, cool breath ghosting across her lips. Sakura's heart fluttered like a hummingbird trapped in her ribcage. She couldn't budge a muscle.

Sasuke's mouth moved to descend on hers, and suddenly panicked doubt spiked through her veins.

_If this is what you want, Sakura._

_What you want._

_Make a wish._

_Find what you lack._

_What you __**lack.**_

_What you __**want.**_

The wrongness of the moment crashed into Sakura like a tidal wave, sending her mind reeling.

"Wait," she choked. "This isn't —"

"Sakura," said Sasuke.

"I don't —" Blackness drowned her.

"Sakura."

"Sakura!"

"_Sakura!"_

"Nnnrgh," she mumbled coherently, refusing to open her eyes against the blinding light. Obviously her head had been run through a meat grinder recently.

"_Sa-ku-ra!"_ The persistent shaking of her shoulders finally caused her to crack her eyes open. Naruto crouched over her, a blonde mass eclipsing the sun.

"Get up, I said! We're supposed to be there at noon, we're gonna be _late."_

Sakura allowed him to help her sit up gingerly, wincing and cradling her head in her hand. She hissed in pain. "Owowowowowow." This was far worse than the worst hangover she'd never had.

"What happened to you? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Naruto exclaimed, a rare look of irritation scrawled across his features.

Sakura's brow furrowed. "You have?"

"Of course! Did you fall asleep up here or what?"

"No...yeah. I-I think I must've hit my head last night," Sakura deduced from the pounding in her skull. Because obviously shooting stars did _not_ just go around falling on people. How ridiculous would that be?

"Well that explains why you're so out of it. Hurry up, like I said we're gonna be _late." _He nearly dislocated her arm, yanking her to her feet with such exuberance.

Sakura took a moment to steady herself before taking off running down the mountainside after his retreating figure, ignoring the way her brain was trying to claw its way out of her ears. She wracked it instead, but came up empty. "Late for what? Is something going on today?" she called.

Naruto spared her an odd backwards glance. "The mission, of course."

Now Sakura was really confused. "I'm back on active duty?" she asked, bewildered. Was she reinstated because she was no longer a candidate for hospital director? But if so, why hadn't anyone told her? How long was she unconscious for, exactly?

"Geez, how hard _did_ you hit your head?" Naruto asked as she caught up, concern creasing his brow.

"Pretty hard, I guess. I can feel the throbbing behind my eyeballs," she confessed unhappily. "But what mission? And why do you keep calling me 'Sakura'?"

He looked at her like she was losing it. "Because that's your _name? _It's not funny to joke about amnesia at a time like this."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "No kidding. I meant, what happened to 'Sakura-chan'?"

Naruto's expression morphed into something even stranger. "You hate it when I call you Sakura-chan."

She frowned. "No I don't. I obviously would've mentioned something like that years ago —"

Now it was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay, whatever, Sakura-_chan. _Just quit dragging, what part of 'nearly late' is not registering?"

Boy, he sure was prickly this morning. Maybe he got into a rare fight with Hinata? Sakura made a mental note to step more carefully around him. "Since when are you such a stickler for being on time?"

"Since you know how sensei gets when we're even a minute off."

Naturally Sakura had to laugh aloud. If this was Naruto's idea of deadpan humor, he had just crossed the line past was what even remotely believable. "Oh right, because _he's _the perfect example of punctuality. Come on Naruto, if we're meeting at noon you know I have at least two hours. Let me go home and change clothes. I reek."

The blond man looked at her like she had just confessed her undying love for Rock Lee. "Are you crazy!? I like living, thanks. Sensei already has our uniforms with him, it's not like we can just carry those things around you know. Besides, we're already —" He paused to glance at the watch on his wrist. Sakura blinked in surprise, suddenly unsure of whether her teammate normally wore such a thing. "Shit! _Shitshitshit _he and Sasuke have been waiting for six minutes already! MOVE!"

And then he was a black and orange blur, far ahead. Bewildered, Sakura trailed him to the old pre-mission meeting spot just outside of Ichiraku, where the backs of two figures in jounin vests stood conversing together in the distance. Sakura blinked hard, did a double take, and blinked again, slowing to a disbelieving halt. She looked at the building's red curtains and unfamiliar hanging lanterns and knew something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Ichiraku wasn't Ichiraku anymore. In its place stood a soba shop she'd never seen before in her life.

Sasuke glanced over at their arrival and said something to the taller man, who turned slowly. Dark eyes pierced her. Not one eye, but _two._

"You're late," Uchiha Itachi said with dangerous softness.

Sakura screamed.


End file.
